Page 48 of Foxes of Legend

“Never.”

“Then…why?” I asked and Seven laughed as my face brimmed with a mysterious fever.

Kairos responded casually, “Because you’re not ready for him to fuck you into oblivion.”

“Oh.” I exhaled breathlessly, pressing my thighs hard together to stop the newest burst of throbbing.

“And he’s big. Will you be able to take all of him?” Seven chided, earning a disapproving frown from Kairos and an abrupt wheeze from me.

Kairos shook his head, turning to Enko to hide his smile. “We have a contract in the city. Unknown breed in the sewers—killed a human last night. We’ll take your truck. Bring your knives, Dove.”

I squirmed out of Enko’s grasp—much to his dismay—throwing my arms around Kairos. “Really? I get to go?”

Finally, a chance to kill some demons.

The four of us ended up in Enko’s truck, with me on Kairos’ lap and Seven in the passenger seat. The truck certainly wasn’t meant to fit the three large men, let alone me with them. Kairos’ arms wrapped around me like a seatbelt.

The truck's shocks squeaked as we turned onto the main street toward Lethe. Enko pulled onto a dirt road to the waste disposal yard. My knee repeatedly bumped into Seven as the ride jostled us around. I grabbed hold of Seven as I flew onto him and the truck rumbled to a stop.

“Well, that was fun,” Kairos said from behind me, and I could hear his grin.

Seven launched out of the truck, brushing himself off as though I’d given him cooties. “Next time, we’ll take my car.”

Next time, I celebrated very privately.

Kairos released me and I jumped down.

“Are you sure she can handle this? Lethe is flooded with filth." Seven glanced at me skeptically.

“The report said it ran into there.” Kairos pointed to the large cement tunnel ahead of us. With my dagger in hand, I watched the shadows, only to find my Fated men watching me. “Put that away, Dove. The three of us will handle this.”

“What? Why even bring me along?”

“You are here strictly to observe.”

None of them moved until the dagger was safely returned to its sheath.

“I’ll lure it out, you two kill it,” Seven said, then a shadow formed around him and his size condensed. As the shadow cleared, a huge black fox with seven tails and red eyes remained, standing on the pile of Seven’s clothes.

His fur looked so soft, I reached down to get a touch, but he snapped at my hand before sprinting into the tunnel.

“Get back, Dove,” Kairos said.

The invisible form of Seven leapt out from the shadows, transforming back into a human and drawing his sword. He stood naked beside me, but I kept my eyes ahead despite every inclination to look. The crunch of gravel and rocks hitting the walls sounded from the narrow opening.

The shadows shifted in the flood tunnel. On all fours, an ogre-like demon came rushing out. Its skin was bright blue, his mouth stretching too wide. Four yellowed canines protruded out from his dark blue lips. Due to the early evening, the demon squinted, throwing out a hand to block the twilight. Three fingers with long claws, two horns like a bull were on either side of its head, wrapped with dirty string to match its teeth and claws.

Tier IV, oni.

Seven had caught it off-guard, not giving it time to shapeshift in its woken confusion. When it looked around, its eyes landed on me. It growled, retracting back as it prepared to pounce on me. Standard battle procedure, find the weak point.

Kairos tucked me further behind them as Enko’s sword sliced through the air. The oni barely dodged the blade. Kairos slammed his mace onto the demon’s chest. Thunder cracked, sparks shooting upward, the lightning electrocuting the demon.

The demon enraged, roaring at the sky before vehemently swiping in all directions, its muscles expanding and rippling as it began to shapeshift.

A black blade pierced through the center of the demon’s chest. The oni gagged for air as it gripped the metal, slicing its hands as it attempted to remove it. The creature crashed to the ground, on its knees, then face-first. Its blood gurgled as Seven withdrew his sword from the demon’s hellfire.

“One away from a thousand.”

---